Lowes has done right

What a blessing it was to come home from church today and see the Lowe's deliverymen putting our washer and dryer in.  They informed me that none of the three dryer vents I had purchased would work, explained what I needed, and gave me the time to go to the local Lowe's store (5 minute drive) to pick it up.  Then they finished it all for me.  I did have to do a lot of cleaning, but that's what you get when it is raining outside and you have a stone driveway instead of cement/asphalt.  I also had to do some minor stuff they forgot to do, but what a relief it is to be able to do laundry.  I purchased the Frigidaire Affinity HE washer and dryer on Black Friday and I have to say I'm happy with the way they work.  I hope my good first impression lasts. 

(I'll post my own picture someday soon.  Thank you Ad-Mark)

In other news, a couple friends were at my house on Friday while the land was being leveled for final grading and told me the grading machine 'hit' the house.  I put my boots on today and took a look and indeed, it did hit and break my brand new siding on the back corner.  Oh well, one thing for Ryan Homes to fix.

I'm curious about 'moving' floors.  I'm not surprised the linoleum floor in the kitchen has some movement to it, but I am shocked at how many spots throughout the house float.  The sub floor is coming up from the joists as you walk over it.  I was such a stickler while the house was under construction to make sure there were NO squeaks or loose sub flooring that I'm surprised how quickly it is separating.  Another thing Ryan Homes will need to fix- I'm not accepting this kind of flooring on a one month old house. 

I'm also curious about finishing details with other new Ryan houses.  As I continue to clean the house, I've noticed that the painters did a sloppy job.  They apparently didn't dust the trim and doors and simply painted over the dust.  I have a lot of sanding to do to get the trim where it should be, very disappointed with this.  Also, there are over a dozen paint drips on my carpet, (does anyone know how to get paint out of carpet?).  I'm still getting the paint of the vinyl floors and kitchen cabinets.  There are also several bad tape seams in the drywall.  I know Ryan Homes is a 'value' builder; but that shouldn't mean the workmanship is poor.  As my uncle who retired from General Motors used to say, 'The Japanese car builders use lower quality parts in their cars, I can't figure out why their cars are more reliable'; the morale here is this: lower quality parts can make an excellent product as long as they're put together well.  Sometime I wonder about how well put together my house is.  Right now I'm willing to do the finish work myself, but Ryan Homes will need to fix the squeaking/moving floors, and address the tape seams in the drywall.  I'm already going to be sanding too much door trim, too many doors, and some baseboard to smooth out the imperfections.  I'm also going to sand some walls and touch up corners, ceilings, etc.  They can fix the bigger things.